Durbin Says Immigration Bill to Help U.S. Security (Transcript)

Apr 19, 2013

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the
chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said in an interview on Bloomberg
Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing this
weekend, that a bipartisan immigration bill introduced this week
would enhance national security. His comments came as supporters
of the measure tried to pre-empt concerns about terrorism as
police hunted for an immigrant from Kyrgyzstan suspected in the
Boston Marathon bombing after a second suspect -- his brother,
also an immigrant -- was killed in a gun battle.

(This is not a legal transcript. Bloomberg LP cannot
guarantee its accuracy.)

Senator, thank you so much for the time. I want to start
with the tragedy out of Boston this week. Authorities say one
suspect is dead, a manhunt is underway for the second. But this
is all going on 72 hours after the first successful terrorist
attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Is this an example of the system
working? Or is this more about us being in the era of social
media?

SENATOR DICK DURBIN: Well, understand we live in a free
and democratic society. People move here and there with freedom.
And that’s something we value very much in America.

But we also live in a dangerous world. So there are ways
for us to zero in on challenges. Sometimes we can’t prevent
everything from happening, but look what happened here. They
went to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and knew that’s
where the bombs were detonated and, in a short period of time,
started gathering this huge amount of information, going through
it, all of the videotapes that were being taken, the cellphone
conversations, and they started closing in on the two suspects.
It’s really a triumph of work in investigation, not over, as we
tape this, but an indication of how quickly our law enforcement
can move on these scenes.

GOLDMAN: Are you impressed by that? Is that something that
surprises you now, 10 years, 12 years after 9/11?

DURBIN: I’ve been watching since 9/11. We learned a bitter
lesson that day when we lost 3,000-plus innocent Americans, and
we started making dramatic investments in intelligence-
gathering, as well as law enforcement, hoping to protect America
from anything like that ever happening again, knowing how tough
a challenge that would be in such an open society.

But I have great confidence in the FBI and in our military.
They also were part of this effort.

GOLDMAN: I want to transition to guns this week. A major
defeat for legislation, for new gun-safety laws. You said on
Wednesday, this is not the end, but when, if ever, will we
realistically see the opportunity for new gun safety laws again?

DURBIN: Veteran senators came up to me after that vote on
Wednesday, and they were distraught. You know, we go through
disappointments here all the time. You call a bill and it loses,
or you can’t get an amendment up for a vote, but I have never
seen so many senators so down after the defeat of the most basic
background-check information when it comes to firearms.

And to look up in the gallery and see those families for
Newtown, families that we’d all come to know personally, as they
filed out with their heads down, you thought to yourself, we let
them down, we let America down. But it isn’t over.

GOLDMAN: Well, you had dinner with the president just hours
after that vote. I mean, it sounds like we’re going to have to
wait until after the 2014 elections for another shot at this.

DURBIN: I don’t believe so. And sadly, I’m afraid, there
will be some other incident -- I pray it isn’t as terrible as
what happened at Connecticut -- but some other incident is going
to remind us of our vulnerability.

In the meantime, something else is happening that is
historic. And don’t overlook it. I ran against the National
Rifle Association when I ran for Congress in a district that was
pretty conservative. They almost beat me, because I really
didn’t have anybody standing my corner supporting my position.
That’s changing.

GOLDMAN: Well, it seems like time was NRA’s friend here and
your enemy. Do you regret not putting a bill on the floor in
January or February?

DURBIN: Here’s the dilemma. You have to make sure that what
you put on the floor is good law, not just a response, emotion.
It has to be sound and thought out. Secondly, it has to be
crafted politically, and we did, with Joe Manchin, one of our
most conservative Democrats from West Virginia, Pat Toomey, a
very conservative Republican from Pennsylvania. We had the two
proper people bringing this forward and an issue of real
substance that would have helped without infringing on Second
Amendment rights.

GOLDMAN: Well, you’re in leadership. And a lot of
progressives are sitting here saying, OK, look, we helped elect
these guys, and leadership can’t keep four senators in line on
this issue that’s pivotal to the president’s second-term agenda.
Are there any consequences from -- political consequences that
they’ll face from the president, the party, for breaking with
Democrats on this?

DURBIN: You know, I’m troubled by your question, and I’ve
heard it before. When 90 percent of the Democrats vote for
sensible gun safety, and 90 percent of the Republicans vote
against sensible gun safety, the argument isn’t, “Well, why
didn’t you get 100 percent of the Democrats?” That still
wouldn’t have been enough. We needed support, bipartisan support
for this to happen.

I’m not going to make any explanation, excuse, whatever it
may be for the Democrats who voted the other way from where I
voted, but I do want to say, there is responsibility on the
other side of the aisle to make this happen. In the Senate, you
have to deal with it on a bipartisan basis.

GOLDMAN: Well, let’s -- let’s turn to immigration. You’re a
member of the Gang of Eight, dropped comprehensive immigration
legislation this week. The debate now is happening in the
context of renewed terror threats. What role is that going to
play?

DURBIN: It’s the right question at the right time, because
we’re talking about what to do with foreigners in the United
States or coming to the United States. And it’s put in the
context, clearly, of our national security first.

Let me tell you why this immigration bill is important for
national security.

First, we’re going to make a dramatic investment in our
border with Mexico. We’re going to close the gaps in that border
once and for all. That’s important.

Secondly, everyone, the 11 million people who were
basically living in the shadows in America have to come forward,
register with the government, go through a criminal background
check. That will make us safer.”

And then, two other things. You won’t be able to get a job
in America without E-Verify checking who you are and your
identity.

And, finally, we’re going to have a system where we monitor
visitors’ visas, bringing people into the United States. We want
to monitor their departure so we know if anyone overstayed their
visa.

GOLDMAN: Well, a number of -- some immigrant-rights
activists are saying, OK, you have the pathway to citizenship,
but you also have the triggers, and so this pathway to
citizenship is just too onerous. Are you going to be pushing to
make it any easier?

DURBIN: Well, I think what we’ve done is to say, this is
your chance, a chance over a long period of time, 13 years, just
like the immigration bill that Senator Kennedy suggested, but
over that 13-year period, you have to step up and earn your way
to legalization.

How do you do that? Well, you register. You go through a
criminal background check. You learn English. You pay a fine.
You pay your taxes. And you are monitored for a 10-year period
of time. Then and only then could you qualify to move forward
towards citizenship.

GOLDMAN: What sort of outreach are you doing or any other
members of the Gang of Eight doing now to work with members in
the House, as we start to look toward final legislation?

DURBIN: Well, that’s a good question, because we can’t do
it alone. I think we have a good start on a bipartisan Senate
bill. I can tell you the efforts underway. My colleague in
Illinois, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, moved to the Judiciary
Committee so he’d be in the right place for this debate.

We’ve been talking. He knows what’s in this bill. I think
he believes it’s a good bill. I think that he believes the House
can do better, and I invite them to. So I hope they won’t wait
on us. I hope they’ll get moving, too.

GOLDMAN: Any other outreach beyond Congressman Gutierrez?

DURBIN: Well, of course. It’s a bipartisan effort over
there. They’re engaging Republicans and Democrats, as we have
in the Senate.

GOLDMAN: So Republican members of the Gang of Eight are
also reaching out to Republican members -

DURBIN: They are. And some of them are running into some
resistance, but they’re also finding those who want to talk.

GOLDMAN: And you think we’ll still get this done by the
summer?

DURBIN: I think we can. And with the president really
pushing us, saying let’s do it once and for all, that helps.

GOLDMAN: All right. Senator Durbin, thank you so much for
the time, a very, very busy week on Capitol Hill and in
Washington.

**END OF TRANSCRIPT***

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